Explosive.



' UNIT -S TE FRANK jEUsTieE. WIpKINs (BOWEN, :oF' LONDON, s eLAriD. A iixPLoejvyzL;

No. s57,5so.

, To all whom it may concernringon street, 'Lon Be it kn'own-thatI, F ANK'EUSTAoE'WLL- 'KINS BOWEN, a subject of the King of Great Bri tain, residing at 6 Newcastle st'reet, ,F'ardon,- England, engineer,

have invented certain new, and useful Imof an explosive, is dependent of gases generated, and on the temperature of i royements in Explosives", of which-the folowing isa specification.

TlllS invention relates to explosives "suitable for use in shells and torpedoes, and for blasting p oses.

- It'is-well own that the potential energy on the volume combustion. The purpose of this present invention is to produce an explosive, of high potential en- 1 ergy, which qualities of stability 'manufacture and use.

at 'the same time possesses the ,'-and safety, both in In order to produce this explosive I comblne three different elements namely 1st. A combustible body which ondecomposition gives rise to lar 'e volumes of gases. Preferably I usea hy ocarbon such as paraflin but by the term combustible there is to, be also understood such substances as carbon, carbohydrates, or organic nitro-compounds, the latter for nnning purposes where suchgre'at immunity from shock or concus-' sion-is not so material as in the case of shells andtorpedoes, in which case I preferably emp105 the former substances.

-' magnesium, whose oxids have a high heat. of

formation .may also be employed. Although sohds are produced on combustion the caloric. value 1s so great that the the two other elements are great and the power of the explosive hanced.

I have found three elements y expanded greatly -enthat the combination of the as described above produces a very owerful and safe explosive with very desirable results, and is very stable.

A- n explos1:ve very suitable for shells consists in a mixture of:-77.85% perchlorate of ammonia. 7.2% aluminum. 14.95%

ff- Specification efmtiteirsfiratent.

' Application.filedoetober 5,1;904.

I employ alumi-' gases roduced by paraffin. This is an extremely powerful explosive as is shown by a comparison of the results obtained by the 'Trauzl test with it and with alike charge of a dynamite contain- The dynamite.

ing 75%- of nitroglycerin. gave aresult of 360'cubic centimeters whereas the new explosive gave a result of 525 cubic centimeters: The result of the explosion is shown by the formula: I 1

that is to say, that 1 kilogram of the explosive gives rise to no less than 868 liters of gas.

This explosive is scarcely sensitive enough for purposes. mixture of:' 71.47% perchlorate of ammonia. 10.99% aluminum. naphthalinn This explosive gives 460 cubic centimeters in a test under like conditions to the test above mentioned.

explosionis shown by the formula:

that is to say,-i1 kilogram of the explosive gives rise to 726 liters of gas. I do not confine myself to these proportions but may vary them in-accordance with the results it may be desired to obtain, but the carbon should be present in such quantities as to v combine, in conjunction with the aluminum,

with the oxygen present, or at all events with the major portion of the oxygen the product 00., being mainly formed.

Stated in another way, there shall be present in the combination for every one atom of carbon in the combustible and for every two atoms of the metal, approximately, respectively, two and three atoms only of oxygen. Explosives made in accordance with this invention are exceedingly powerful and stable, and are characterized by great safety and freedom from explosion by CODCIISSIOII.

What I claim is I -1. An explosive compbund,-conta1nmg a combustible, whiolron ignltion gives rise'to large volumes of gas, ammonium perchlorate,

and a metal whose oxid has a high heat of formation, combined in such proportions that the amount of oxygen present is substantially sufficient to combine only with the metal and with the carbon to form the 02nd of the metal and carbon dioxid. I v

2. An explosive compound, contain ng a combustible, which on ignition gives r1s'eto A suitable one is a,

17.54% nitro- The result of the rate tea June 25, i907.

large volumes of as; ammonium erchlorate and a metal w ose oXid has ahlgh heat of formation, combined insuch pro ortions that for every one atom of carbon in't e combustible and for every two atoms of the metal, there are a proximately present, respectively, two an three atoms only of oxygen. I

3. An explosive com ound, containin paraffin, ammonium perc crate and a meta whose oxid'has a hlgh heat of formation,- combined in such proportions that for every one atom of carbon contained in the araffin and for every two. atoms of the meta there are approximately resent, respectively, two and three atoms on y of oxygen.

4. An explosive compound, containing paraffin, perchlorate of ammonia and aluminum combined in such proportions that v FRANK EUS'IACE WILKINS BOWEN.

Witnesses:

ALFRED NUTTING, FREDK. L. RAND. 

